Fly!
Company: Terminal Reality
Estimated Price: $39.95
http://www.terminalreality.com
http://www.iflytri.com

Requirements and Installation:
Fly! requires Mac OS 8.0 or higher, PPC G3 or iMac, 400MB HD space, 32MB ram (64MB recommended), 3D hardware accelerator (4 MB video RAM minimum), and 4x CD-ROM. A full installation with all the scenery and charts takes about 1.2 GB. Fly! comes with a standard Mac OS installer engine. I installed and ran Fly! on a Powerbook G3/300 with 64MB or RAM.

What you get.
The Fly! package includes three CDs (in one case), one for the program, one of satellite scenery, and one of sectional charts. It also includes a 288 page User Manual, a Multi-Player Guide, and a quick reference card. The User Manual is divided into two sections, a Simulation section about the simulation and various settings, and a Pilot Handbook on the five aircraft: a Cessna 172 Skyhawk - Single prop; a Piper Malibu Mirage - turbocharged single prop; a Beechcraft King Air B200 - Dual turbo prop; a Piper Navajo Chieftain - Dual prop; a Raytheon Hawker 800XP - Business jet; and a good tutorial to get non-flyers (like me) started. I am not yet good enough to try the multi-player mode.

Up, up, and away!
The second program I bought for my brand new Macintosh 7100/66 when they were first released years ago was Microsoft Flight Simulator. However, MS has not updated this program for the Mac OS in over a decade. So, I was thrilled to see a new flight simulator available for the Mac. And from all indications (including reviews by serious pilots and flight simulator buffs), Fly! is a top contender in the field.

I was immediately impressed with the quality of the Fly! package, from the screen shots to the User Manual and Reference Card. My first run of the program was easy, with the default settings working adequately and the simulation controlled auto-landing giving me a great look at the features as it brought me into San Francisco International Airport.

Fly! comes with a broad range of difficulty and reality settings, with lots of computer assistance for non-pilots, all the way to icing, prop airflow over the wing effects, and realistically modeled stall behavior for experts. And the settings to select the desired degree of realism and difficulty are easy to access and use.

Terrain and navigational support includes over 9000 airports and 30,000 navigational aids in 200 countries, realistic scenery modeling of five 100 mile by 100 mile areas around San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and Dallas, and a worldwide flight planner. It uses a spherical globe model, which gives true long distance navigation. It used more detailed terrain graphics at lower elevations, giving great views no matter what your simulated altitude.

Other features include interactive Air Traffic Control (text and voice), pre-loaded scenarios of diverse flight situations, and a built-in Global Positioning Satellite receiver system. It includes USB and force feedback input device support. It also includes support for multi-player flying over a network or the Internet, with verbal communication with the other players.

Fly! has been declared the leader in realism and fidelity against programs that have been on the market for years. In my opinion, for a first generation release, this product is fantastic!

A feature of the program that I really like is the fact that it is modular and extensible. This makes it easy for third party companies (or even individuals) to add scenery or new aircraft, or to modify the behavior of the included aircraft to more closely model different variations of the basic airplanes included with the package.

There is a 757 add-on available for Fly! from a third party company for $24.95, as well as several modified versions of the included aircraft. And there are several add-on scenery and airport packages available, many for free. Check out the "Links" page from the Fly! website at http://www.iflytri.com for more information.

Summary
Fly! is a top-notch flight simulator. It has features that make it easy to use for any skill level from pilot wannabe to experienced pilots. The modularity allows both Terminal Reality and third party companies to advance the features and to add-on new aircraft and realistic scenery.

MacMice Rating: 4.5

David E. Price
david@mymac.com